Category: Edit Corner

Illegal mining in Goa is not a myth. It is real but many in the Goa government have turned a blind-eye to it for obvious reasons. Even the Centre is not oblivious to the fact that our state for the last five years has been drained of its natural resources and even state revenues on account of the illegal mining; let’s not also forget the lives of the people in and around the villages affected by rampant and inconsiderate mining that have changed for the worse.

I am surprised at the workings on the BJP when it comes to Goa. And I blame the leaders in Goa and their leaders in the High Command for their current plight. And I say this not because I favor the BJP but because if the opposition party of this state is going to be so weak; then there lies very little hope for any good governance being implemented; and the Congress leaders who are growing in numbers will only run riot around the state and corruption (which is already at its peak) will only scale even greater heights.

Many a time I have been in the midst of discussions on the ‘Rights of Goans in Goa’. And through these conversations it seems to appear that there exists a volatile dislike for the non-Goans coming to make Goa their permanent home.

We can endlessly debate on many issues surrounding Anna Hazare’s ‘India against Corruption’ fight; from the stupidity of the Congress government to the demands of Team Anna; from the BJP, RSS, Baba Ramdev, Sri Ravishankar’s support to the fight against corruption campaign to the people wearing the Anna caps and thronging the streets across the country. Followers of the campaign will consider it to be a victory for Team Anna; cynics will question the motives and actions of Team Anna. Whichever side of the fence one is sitting on and whether you are a fence sitter, it will be difficult to deny that Anna Hazare’s fight against corruption is the voice of the India of today; which is why the Youth of India has come-out to support this cause in large numbers.

Fourteen months ago an idea germinated in our minds over a coffee at Café Coffee Day; at that coffee table were two unseen forces of GoaChronicle.com besides me; our tech wiz Agraj and our marketing wiz Myrtle. We were toying about many ideas on what to do in the online sphere to connect the people of Goa with the rest of the globe. That’s where the idea of GoaChronicle.com was born and on August 13, 2010, we were online.

The days ahead for the Congress party is tumultuous; this phenomenon is being witnessed across all states where Congress has a foothold. Many within the party attribute the current plight of the Congress to be on account of its leader’s inaptitude to stay true to its ‘aam aadmi’ mantra but instead follow the ‘khaas aadmi’ mantra. Like one senior Congress politician from Goa remarked, “Congress party is like a harem, we all have a price and everyone is for sale”.

Churchill Alemao never expected that the power-play he tried to use to ensure smooth sailing of his daughter in the Goa Pradesh Youth Congress would back-fire and get his daughter disqualified. It came as a shock to him and in his shock state he decided to do what comes naturally to him shoot himself in the foot.

In the last week on account of the Indian Youth. Congress election, ‘too’ much was being done by the Alemao camp to intimidate, bribe and manipulate ministers, MLAs and members of the Goa Pradesh Youth Congress so as to swing the votes in favour of the PWD Minister’s daughter Valanka Alemao.

Though the statement ‘In the Name of The Father’ has religious connotations; in Goa where religion to most politicians is just an eye wash, it is not surprising that children from political families are making in-roads into politics using the name, power and money of their fathers to either intimidate or cajole gullible workers to show them the same admiration

Nothing can be truer than the reason behind the Government of Goa’s Cabinet decision to de-notify the property under Survey No 8/1. ‘Settlement Zone’ was the operative word used in the de-notification of the land set aside for Airport parking to the Airport Authority of India (AAI).